RARE SILK (III)
A small gesture, curator Sabrina Henry is inviting Black Womxn to take a contemplative moment to connect with ancient Bantu-Kongo concepts of time and cosmology, and create a collective artwork in the process.
“The dam of times” are the four stages of time which every living being must go through, working from the concept that time is cyclical, and so is life and all its ramifications that make change possible through the process of marking it’s stages. Sabrina invites Black womxn to explore the four stages in relation to their own life — one they are going through, have been through or wish to move towards and through in the future — through the rhythmic and methodical act of weaving to music.
Small weaving kits and instructions will be gifted to a handful of womxn, accompanied by a soundtrack by Audio Producer Zakia Sewell and texts by K.K. Bunseki Fu-Kiau, Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Fred Moten and Stefano Harney — reflecting on time and Black experience.
Once completed, we are requesting that the artworks are sent back to Sabrina to create a wearable tapestry and collective artwork, which attempt to encapsulate the Dikenga, multiple dams of time, love, joy and forward motion as a response to Maud Sulter’s Syrcas (1993).
We have invited a number of collaborators and local artists to participate in creating a weave for the tapestry and are requesting people to nominate other Black womxn to receive this small weaving gift.
This micro-commission is part of our Wild Strawberries programme, arising from conversations with artists and collaborators, which have led to small gems in the form of artworks, writings and projects.